CHAPTER XXVII
BACK TO THE SHIP
With anxious eyes the adventurers crawled out on the floe and gazed ahead. Across the black stretch of water could be seen a dim whiteness. It looked like the main ice pack, but they realized that it might be only another floe or berg. The current was setting strong in the direction of it.
"We will soon learn our fate," said the professor. "We should be up to it in an hour."
In less time than that they were near enough to the white mass to tell that it was no floe or berg, but the main field of ice, part of that from which they had been separated.
"I don't know as we'll be much better off when we get there," said Andy. "There are not dogs enough left to draw the sled, and if we have to walk back to where the airship is, providing this Esquimaux can find it, we'll freeze."
"Let us wait until we get to shore before we begin to find new trouble," counseled the professor.
In a little while the floating floe bumped up against the main ice field with a grinding and crashing. No sooner had it touched than the dogs scampered off, and were soon lost to sight. The Esquimaux did not seem to worry much over their disappearance. He coolly righted the sled, having first demolished the temporary tent, and proceeded, unaided, to haul the vehicle ashore.
"Give him a hand, Washington," said the professor. "He is our friend, and rendered us good service. We must help him."
Then, while Washington and the native dragged the sled, the others followed afoot, and in a short time were safe on the main ice.
"Now, the question is," said the inventor, "can our guide take us to the ship?"
But the Esquimaux guide seemed to be in no dilemma. He gave one look about, after reaching the main shore, and then, with Washington helping him pull the sled, started off across the ice.
It was no easy path for the adventurers to follow. There were little hills and hollows, many rough and few smooth places. Their feet were weary before they had gone two miles. But the native did not seem to tire.
"I declare to goodness I'se dat kerflusteredcated dat I can't extradition myself forward in dis line ob progression de leastest moment longer!" exclaimed Washington at length, coming to a halt. "I'se prognosticated in de lower extremities!"
"I suppose he means he's too tired to go any further and his legs ache," translated Professor Henderson. "Well, he takes a lot of words, but I guess his condition is about like that of all of us. I'm tired too."
One after another all admitted that they felt the need of rest. At the professor's direction they came to a halt under the shelter of an ice hill, that kept off some of the wind. Here they made some sort of a meal of the condensed food.
This served to render their fatigue a little less, and, after an hour's rest, they started off again. There did not seem to be much need of dragging along the sled, which was useless without dogs to pull it, but the vehicles are scarce and hard to make, so, doubtless, the Esquimaux did not want to desert his property.
Mile after mile the refugees traversed. It was hard work and walking over the humpy ice was quite different from anything the adventurers were used to, and their feet ached very much. But they knew their only safety was in keeping on.
The cold was terrible. They had no instruments for telling how low the mercury might be, but the professor ventured a guess that it was at seventy degrees below zero. The wind, too, sprang up, and adding to the unpleasant situation the sky was overcast with heavy clouds that threatened a snow storm.
That would mean a calamity which might bring to an untimely end the brave men and boys who had dared so much in the search for the north pole. A blinding fall of the white flakes would result in the guide losing his way, and they might all perish. So they hurried on, anxious to get to the Monarch, if they were lucky enough to find her.
There was no use asking the guide any questions or trying to learn how much farther they had to go. Professor Henderson tried to learn from him if the journey would last much longer, but the Esquimaux only shook his head, pointed in advance, and uttered but one word:
"Ship!"
They kept on for several hours more. Their pace was slow, for all of the adventurers, men and boys, were foot-sore and weary. The guide, however, did not seem to mind it. Tom and Bill took turns relieving Washington at helping pull the sled.
At last the party came to a long hill of ice. It was the hardest kind of going to climb to the top, but the Esquimaux inspired hope in all their hearts by showing signs of excitement, while he exclaimed rapidly:
"Ship! Ship! Ship!"
Up the long slope they toiled, almost ready to drop at every step. Finally they gained the top. The guide was in the lead. As he got to the summit he pointed down and gave a joyful cry.
Andy, weary as he was, hurried to his side. He gazed long and steadfastly in the direction the Esquimaux pointed.
"It's the Monarch sure enough!" cried the old hunter. "I can make out the yellow gas bag against the snow bank! Hurrah!"
"Hurrah! Hurrah!" yelled Jack, Mark, Bill, Washington and Tom. Even Professor Henderson joined in, and the Esquimaux added his voice in a queer sort of native cheer that made all of the others smile.
"Now if we could only fly to her we'd be all right," exclaimed Mark.
The guide was busy overhauling the sled. He tightened some of the retaining thongs that had become loosened, and then, with guttural cries, he pointed to the vehicle, to the different members of the party and to the long slope that lay before them, and which led down almost to the abandoned airship.
"I believe he means for us to coast down the hill on the sled!" cried
Andy. "That's a good scheme. It will beat walking all to pieces!"
Down, down, down the adventurers went, like an arrow shot from a stout bow. The bone runners of the sled glided over the frozen surface, which was as slippery as glass.
The speed was very swift and the wind caused by the rapid passage cut in their faces so that all had to pull their fur hoods over their heads. The ice, scraped up by the runners, flew in a shower on either side.
The Esquimaux skillfully steered the sled. He avoided several hollows and gullies that would have brought disaster, and kept the vehicle on a proper course. In less than five minutes from the start at the top of the hill they were at the bottom, more than a mile's distance, and within a quarter of a mile of the airship.
Joy at the discovery of the Monarch lent strength to travel-weary legs. The refugees hastened on, and soon were at the place where the craft had settled on a bank of ice and snow.
"Back to the Monarch!" shouted Andy. "I hope the ship is in working order!"
Indeed this might well be a source of worry. One glance served to show that the airship was frozen fast in the ice, while the gas bag, which had collapsed, and was resting on top of the deck-house, was partially covered with snow!
As weak as they were the boys set up a cheer and the men joined in, the sound echoing for a long distance around.
CHAPTER XXVIII
ATTACKED BY THE NATIVES
"We must clear away the snow and ice!" said Professor Henderson. "Come, boys, we must work quickly. We have no time to lose! Remember what Dirola said about the natives following us!"
Now that he was back at his craft the inventor seemed to have recovered all of his energies.
"Washington and I will see to the machinery, and get the bag inflated," he continued. "The rest begin to dig out the ship from below."
Fortunately the professor had foreseen the need of shovels on his northern journey and had a supply in the ship. They were quickly brought out. The snow was soon cleared from the silk bag, it being rather light. Then, while the professor and the negro went to the engine room to start the various apparatus, the others began chipping away the ice that held the main body of the Monarch in a tight grip.
Inside the airship matters were in bad shape. The intense cold had contracted all the metal and made it very brittle. Care had to be exercised in handling every piece of apparatus. There was no heat in the ship, and it was almost as cold as outside.
However, the gas generating machine was set in operation by a current from the storage battery. Some of the gas was turned into the heating stoves, which were constructed to burn it, and this made heat which soon enabled the professor to work on the motors and dynamos. In a little while the gas began filling the bag, which slowly distended.
"Hurrah!" yelled Jack, seeing that the Monarch was beginning to look like herself again. He and the others were working hard at the ice, which did not seem to want to let the ship go.
The inventor went about testing each separate piece of apparatus. He found that, with a little tinkering, all the machinery would work well. Meanwhile the gas continued to fill the bag, until it was tugging at the net and cords that fastened it to the airship. But all the lifting power that could be produced from the machine would not elevate the Monarch while it was held fast in the ice.
However, the forces attacking the frozen crystals worked to good advantage. In the midst of their labors Washington brought out some hot coffee, which was received with cheers. It was the first white man's food, except the patent capsules, they had tasted since leaving the ship.
At last, after several hours' hard digging, the body of the ship was all but free. A few more blows would sever the last connecting grapple of ice.
Suddenly Jack, who happened to glance up, gave a loud cry. All the others stopped their digging.
"Here come the Esquimaux!" yelled the boy. "I just saw them around that big iceberg!"
This was alarming news. Old Andy dropped his shovel and scrambled over the side of the ship.
"What's de matter? Am yo' skeered?" asked Washington.
"Not a bit of it!" cried Andy. "I want to get a gun and give those fellows something to remember me by!"
"Never mind them!" shouted the professor. "Get the ship free and we need not stay to fight them. We are almost ready to start!"
But Andy was bound to have a shot at the savages, and he grabbed up his rifle, which was fully loaded, and came out on the deck.
The natives came on with a rush. There were about two hundred of them, and they had arrived on several big sleds. The Esquimaux who had piloted the adventurers back to their ship had disappeared, for he knew he would be killed as a traitor if his tribesmen caught him.
"Come on!" cried Bill to Tom and the boys. "Let's get aboard. We'll be killed!"
"You can go!" shouted Jack. "I'm going to stay down here and free the ship from ice. That's the only thing to do."
"I'll stay with you!" exclaimed Mark.
Tom and Bill scrambled up the sides of the ship and disappeared into the cabin. The boys remained on the ice, partly under the airship, chipping and picking to free the bottom.
With loud shouts and yells the Esquimaux surrounded the Monarch. The savages were armed with bows and arrows, and soon a shower of these missiles were shot toward the craft.
Professor Henderson was in mortal terror lest one of the sharp weapons would pierce the gas bag, but, for some reason, the natives fired at the lower part of the ship. Andy and the two helpers were now ready to return the fire. Their guns rattled out and the reports caused the natives great astonishment.
The first shots the defenders had fired over the heads of the Esquimaux, not wishing to kill them if they could help it. But though the reports caused a momentary falling back, the attackers soon rallied again, and shot a thicker cloud of arrows, some of which fell uncomfortably near.
"Let 'em have it right in the faces this time!" shouted Andy.
He took careful aim at the mass of natives who were advancing, and one fell. Bill and Tom followed his example, and the onslaught was checked for a time.
But now reinforcements to the Esquimaux arrived until there were fully five hundred of the fur-clad savages out on the ice surrounding the airship. To cope with such a force seemed madness. Bill received a slight wound in the arm, and Tom had a narrow escape from being killed, a big spear just missing his head.
"Drop down below the rail!" yelled Andy. "They can't hit us so easy then, and we can fire just as good!"
The defenders dropped flat to the deck, outside of the cabin. A loud yell on the part of the Esquimaux told that they thought the adventurers had been killed, and there was a rush to capture the ship.
"Let 'em have it! As fast as you can pull the triggers!" cried the old hunter. "We'll show 'em what we can do!"
The three guns rang out again and two of the natives fell, both badly wounded.
"I wish we had more help!" exclaimed Andy. "We're likely to have trouble soon! Why don't those boys come up; in a few minutes they won't have a chance!"
Indeed it would have been risky now for Jack and Mark to venture out from under the ship, where they were still bravely chipping at the last remaining bit of ice that help the ship fast. So far their presence had not been noted by the enemy.
At that instant Professor Henderson ran out of the engine room.
"Use the machine gun!" he yelled. "That is our only hope!"
The next second he fell to the deck, struck by a spear.
CHAPTER XXIX
THE ESCAPE
"He's killed!" cried Andy.
"Oh Perfessor! Perfessor!" exclaimed Washington. "I tole yo' not to go out."
"Never mind! Start the machine gun!" yelled Andy. "We must fight off these human fiends!"
"Call up the boys!" shouted Bill. "They'll be killed under the ship!"
"I'm afraid it's too late," said Andy. "Here, Tom, you help Washington work the machine gun!"
The weapon had been covered by canvas, and, fortunately, the snow had not harmed it. The canvas was yanked off, and, while Tom prepared to feed the cartridges down the hopper, Washington worked the crank. In a few seconds there was a fusillade that sounded like a small battery going into action.
From the muzzle of the machine gun poured out a leaden hail. It struck the Esquimaux fairly and though they tried to stand against it they could not. Their arrows and spears dropped from their hands and they staggered back, many badly hurt or killed.
"Why don't those pesky boys come up!" wondered Andy. His gun was again empty. He hastened into the cabin to reload the magazine. As he did so he heard a tapping on the plate glass window set in the floor of the car.
"Who is there?" he cried.
"It's us; Jack and Mark!" a voice answered. "Let us up! The ship is free!"
Andy flung open the window. It was just large enough for a boy to squeeze through. In a moment Jack and Mark were in the cabin.
In the meanwhile Bill had dropped his gun and carried the professor from the deck inside. The old man was unconscious, but a glance showed that the spear had made only a slight wound on the head, and not one that was likely to be dangerous.
"Is he dead?" cried the boys.
"We hope not," answered Andy. "But we have no time to lose. Can one of you start the ship?"
"I can!" exclaimed Jack.
"Then do it, while I help hold the enemy at bay!"
The Esquimaux, in spite of their losses, were returning to the attack. Closer and closer they pressed to the ship. The machine gun was making great gaps in their ranks, but they did not seem to mind. They were bent on recapturing their former captives, whose track they had followed from the ice cavern.
Jack ran to the engine room. He saw that everything was in readiness for sending the ship aloft. But little gas more was needed in the bag. He turned on the full supply. The noise of the guns, the shouts and yells of the natives, made the place resound with wild noises. It was a battle such as the arctic regions had never before witnessed.
A tremor shook the Monarch. The ship shivered. Jack ran to the conning tower. He grasped the lever that started the propeller. Then came a sudden lurch. The airship tore loose from the ice and rose swiftly in the air. Jack set the screw to working and turned the steering wheel so that the Monarch's nose was pointed due south, away from the land of perpetual ice and snow.
A wild yell of disappointed rage burst from hundreds of throats as the Esquimaux saw their captives escape. They filled the air with arrows and spears, but to no purpose. Andy sent the last shots in his rifle at the savages, and, as the ship rose a hundred feet in the air, the remaining cartridges in the machine gun were exploded.
"Hurrah!" cried the old hunter. "We're off!"
On and on sped the Monarch, every second putting the frozen north behind her. Jack had all the engines going at full speed.
"What has happened? Where are we?" asked Professor Henderson, suddenly recovering consciousness.
"We's on de Monarch an' we's done left dem cantankerous conglomerated disputatious Mosquitoes down on de ice!" exclaimed Washington, coming in to see how his master was. "Are yo' much hurted, Perfessor?"
"It's only a scratch," replied the inventor. "I'm all right," and he insisted on getting up and seeing how the engines were running. He was a little weak, but some medicine which Washington fixed at his master's direction soon brought him around.
The airship was working beautifully in spite of being frozen up in the terrible cold. On and up she went until she had left the vicinity of the savages far behind. After about an hour's flight the professor had Jack lower the craft to within half a mile of the surface, as he said he wanted to see what was below.
The boy, who was in charge of the conning tower, set the necessary machinery, while the professor went to the window in the bottom of the ship to watch.
"We're over the sea!" he exclaimed. "There is no land or ice in sight!"
"Come here quick!" cried Washington, from the engine room.
"What's the matter?" exclaimed the professor.
"De gas machine am gone on a rampage ag'in!"
Then, all at once, the airship began to sink. All rushed to the engine room. The gas generator had ceased working and the craft was settling toward the ocean, there being nothing to keep it aloft.
Frantically the professor and Washington worked at the apparatus. It could not be adjusted. Despair was on every face. Faster and faster sunk the Monarch.
"Will we sink?" asked Andy. "I can't swim."
"We may float," said the professor. "The bottom part of the ship is water tight. We may float long enough to fix the machinery."
Then, with a splash, the Monarch settled into the ocean, the gas bag falling limply on top of the cabins.
"Get out the life preservers!" shouted the professor. "They are in the forward part. Put them on, while Washington and I try to fix the gas machine!"
The airship had now become a water ship. It rose and fell on the waves, rocking from side to side.
"Get ready to jump!" yelled Jack, running in from the conning tower.
"What now?" asked Professor Henderson, "Haven't we troubles enough?"
"There's a big whale and he's headed right this way!" yelled Jack. "He's coming on like a locomotive, to ram us!"
Andy caught up his gun and hastened to the tower. As Jack had said, a big sperm whale, spouting water high in the air from his nostrils, was headed for the Monarch, which, as it lay on the surface, the whale evidently took for a rival.
"I wonder if I can stop him with this rifle," exclaimed Andy.
"No, but you can with the machine gun!" said Jack.
"Not while it's in the stern," replied the old hunter. "I guess we are done for this time. I'll fire a few shots, anyhow, before I die!"
"Wait!" yelled Jack. "I'll turn the ship around!"
"Can you do it?"
"I think I can," was the short reply.
"We cannot use the machinery."
"I know that, but I can use something else—that is, I think I can."
"There is nothing to use."
"Yes, there is. See here!"
As the youth spoke he seized a long pole from the deck, and stuck one end of it in a large cake of ice that floated close by. Slowly, but with the strength of despair he pushed the bow of the airship around so that it was pointed away from the on-coming whale.
"Run to the rear!" the boy cried to Andy. "And hurry up!"
The hunter did so. A few seconds later the stern of the ship was toward the ocean monster. Andy called for some one to bring ammunition and feed the hopper of the machine gun, and Bill responded.
Then, when the whale was within a hundred feet of the Monarch, Andy began turning the crank. A storm of lead shot out toward the big fish. The water about was dyed with blood and the spouting streams from the nostrils were changed from white to red. With a terrible flurry, lashing the waters of the ocean to foam with its broad flukes, the whale died, hundreds of bullets in its head.
The airship was saved.
CHAPTER XXX
HOMEWARD BOUND
"We're sinking! we're sinking!" yelled Bill Jones. He pointed to a stream of water that was trickling up from the cabin floor. The freezing of the ship in the ice had strained the seams.
The professor and Washington were working earnestly over the gas machine. They piled in fresh chemicals and started the electric current. The water in the cabin continued to rise.
"Well, I guess I might as well have let the whale finish us," sighed
Andy. "We're bound to die, anyhow!"
"Not yet!" cried the professor suddenly. "Not if I can help it! Quick,
Washington. Another turn to the handle, and I think we will be safe!"
The negro adjusted the machine as the professor had directed.
"Is the water gaining?" asked Amos Henderson.
"No. It's stopped coming in," replied Bill.
"Then we are saved!" announced the inventor. "The gas is entering the bag and lifting the ship!"
Sure enough, the Monarch no longer pitched and tossed on the waves. It was rising in the air. In a little while it was quite a distance above the ocean. All on board watched anxiously, but the craft appeared to be on its good behavior and mounted steadily upward. The propeller, which had been stopped, was again set in motion. The professor went to the conning tower and began steering the ship to the south. The adventurers were homeward bound at last.
For some time no one spoke, so anxious were they lest another accident should occur. But when, after another hour or two, the ship still kept on its flight, all breathed easier.
"Well, we've been to the north pole," remarked Jack, after a long pause.
"That's something very few can say."
"Yes, I think we can safely assert that we have accomplished what we set out to do," remarked the professor. "True, we did not land on the exact spot, and I am inclined to believe it would be impossible, because of the whirlwind of the electric currents. But we certainly were at the exact north, as the deflecting needle showed."
"I wonder if the south pole is like this?" asked Mark.
"I do not know," returned Amos Henderson with a smile. "I hope the south pole is a little nicer. We might go and see, some day. Would you boys like to make the trip?"
"You bet!" exclaimed Jack fervently, speaking for himself and Mark.
The Monarch sped on her way. Every hour brought her nearer to her starting point. When it became evident that the machinery was now in good working order and not liable to a breakdown, the professor ordered a meal gotten ready, since all were hungry.
With thankful hearts they sat down to a spread of the best the patent foods afforded, and ate heartily. Then, being worn out with fatigue, the professor advised all to take to their bunks and get some sleep. He said he would steer the ship for a while, to be relieved by Washington and Jack in turn.
Regular watches were established before the adventurers sought their bunks, and then, while the craft shot southward, quiet reigned aboard.
No further mishaps occurred. For some days the Monarch was kept on her course. Every hour it grew warmer until the fur garments were discarded, and at length the windows were opened and the fresh breezes blew inside the cabins. The temperate zone had been reached.
Over green meadows, woods, hills and valleys the airship flew; across wide bays, great rivers and large lakes. Now it was high in the air, above the clouds, and, again, close to the earth, as the captain directed.
At last, just at dusk one summer afternoon, a little less than a month from the time they had left, the inventor stopped the propeller.
"We are right above my old cabin," he said. "Now we are going to land.
This ends the voyage to the north pole, and we are back safe and sound."
The ship settled down, about a hundred feet from the balloon shed, which remained the same as when the adventurers had left it. No one was in sight, and the travelers stepped out on the ground.
"If you will come inside I will pay you for your time, Andy," said Mr. Henderson; "and you, too, Bill and Tom. You know I promised you good wages while you were with me, and I think you have earned the money."
The hunter and the two helpers were liberally rewarded for the time they had spent. Bidding the professor good-bye, they went their several ways, to astonish their friends and acquaintances with their strange tales.
"As for you, boys," went on Amos Henderson to Jack and Mark, "I will pay you, too, if you like, or you can continue with me, and perhaps some day we'll make a trip to the South Pole—if not through the air, then under the sea, for I have in mind to build a submarine boat next. What do you say?"
"I'll stay," said Jack.
"So will I," exclaimed Mark. "Hurrah for the South Pole!"
"Then come on in to supper," cried the professor gaily, leading the way to his cabin.
THE END.
End of Project Gutenberg's Through the Air to the North Pole, by Roy Rockwood